I met an old friend on the street the other day, a friend I hadn’t seen for a year or so.  He walked up to me, smiled broadly and said, “Good Lord, I was sure you had died.  You haven’t posted anything since February!”…  What an “eye opener!”

Truth be told, the past few months have been full of travel, visits from family and, honestly, I just haven’t had anything to say that I thought was worth saying.  That’s not to say that there hasn’t been anything going on in the workshop.  Although I have to admit that my level of productivity has been seriously diminished. But, maybe now is a good time to “get back in the game.”

Lester (my partner in the crime of woodworking) and I have managed to finish a couple of projects during this “black-out period.”   We completed a small tavern table (based on one in the Metropolitan Museum of Art) that Les had started a number of years ago.  While dry fit, it served to provide a small amount of temporary storage for a number of years.    He opted for a oval top made from a single piece of curly maple that he’s had in storage since the last Dempsey fight.  He decided that heavy distressing was just the ticket.  So, Les, our friend Scott Midegeley and I attacked the thing with lanyards full of keys, sticks, rods, stones.  It was scorched earth!

After the beating, the top was dyed with amber water based dye, then glazed with “black oil”, a combination of asphaltum, turpentine and BLO.  The top was then finished with several coats of Waterlox.  The cherry base was stained, coated with Waterlox then painted with a satin black alkyd enamel.  Then the paint was “wet wiped” to create a heavily distressed look in the areas that would have been subjected to the most wear.  Imagine the Founding Fathers sitting around one of these little beauties, drinking warm ale and trying to determine the best way to run a Republic.

The turned legs were terminated with simple Spanish feet of the “fluted” variety.  Ends of the “ogeed” aprons were finished up with a decorative cockbead.

I became so enthused that I ran right home and started my own Tavern Table.  There are a few differences, but the design is essentially the same.  The carriage is of walnut, the top is elliptical, the finish is the same with less distressing and I opted for a little longer, more feminine Spanish Feet (probably a subliminal influence of having just watched a Penelope Cruz movie).  The aprons are relieved to create a lighter look and the top has a simple torus edge and I nixed the cockbead (for no good reason other than the fact that I wanted to get the thing finished).

Here’s a look at the table through part of the construction process:

And, if you don’t believe in the possibility of resurrection, just stand near the parking lot gate at “quitting time.”    “Gramps”

The bedstead’s headboard is moving along. Once I had the first free-hand panel carved, it was easy to carve the 2nd one. After marking out the margins and a vertical centerline, I used a compass to take a few markers – here noting where the S-scrolls at the bottom corner hit the vertical margins.

Then I chalked in a rough outline for that shape. This panel, like many from this grouping (and all 4 in this headboard) have a stylized urn at the bottom center of the panel. That shape I marked out with a square & awl to locate its top & bottom, and marked its width from the vertical centerline. The S-scrolls then fit between the urn and the bottom corner/margin.

My camera-boy (Daniel, 11 yrs old) came by & used the Ipad to shoot some Instragram stuff…here’s some leftovers. Carving this bottom corner S-scroll, in two snippets. (home-video caliber – no edits, shaky, etc – but worth a look.)

there are related S-scrolls across the top section of the panel. These reach from the corners to the vertical centerline. These top and bottom sections are the first things I block in with the V-tool.

then comes the stuff between. I sketch the vein in the larger leaf, it reaches from the centerline to the margin.

Then I carry on, doing first one side, then the other.

The whole thing is about filling in the spaces, and in this case, blending one shape to lay against another.

Here’s the V-tool outline almost all done.

Next I take a #5 gouge, in this case about 1″ wide or slightly less, and chop out between the V-tool lines, to begin removing the background.

Some beveling, some shaping. With a narrow #5.

People ask about the background punch. Mild steel, filed to leave these pyramidal points.

accents with a few #7 gouges.

And a narrow chisel. Bevel towards the waste when chopping like this.

Then pare down to the chopped mark.

Trim to length. 

Bevel the back, first with a hatchet.

Then 2 planes. Feather down to nothing.

Here’s the headboard thus far. There will be plain panels below this, and a carved crest rail above. And of course, two vertical posts.

Closer.

Fig. 60 – Two-Panelled Door

This is an excerpt from “Doormaking and Window-Making” by Anonymous. This book was discovered for us by joiner Richard Arnold. 

The door shown in Fig. 60 is very common as a front door in some parts of the country, although it has not much to recommend it, the long panels being very weak, and also the stiles, owing to there being no middle rail to strengthen them.

The making is very simple, being the same as an ordinary panel door, minus the middle rail; hence no detailed instructions on setting out are required here. They only mystifying point is the circular head panels, but those are only formed by the bolection moulding, the top rail being framed in square, as in Fig. 61, and the circular corner pieces glued and bradded in on the outside of the door only.

Fig. 61 – Showing Corner-Pieces in Panels

The circular moulding is formed in a lathe, as Fig. 62, and cut through to form two heads. It should be sawn through across the grain, as shown in the drawing, so that the end grain on the straight moulding will butt against the end grain on the circular moulding. In doing this, the shrinkage will be the same on each piece, and the intersection will not be affected. Of course, it must be understood that, if a good job is to be made, the turning must be accurately done, or the two will not intersect, and no amount of cleaning off will put matters right.

Fig. 62 – Circular Moulding for Tops of Panels

In making doors which have to be bolection moulded, some care is needed in gauging for the mortises, to ensure the moulding is bedding properly. If the moulding is rebated to a depth of half an inch, the gauge should be set to nine-sixteenths; the moulding will then bed tightly on the framing without any trouble. If gauged on too far, when the moulding is nailed in there is a risk of splitting at the outside edge; and if not gauged enough, the moulding will not fit closely to the framing. The medium should be aimed at, as in Fig. 63, where the moulding beds closely at A and B, and is slightly away from the panel at C.

Fig. 63 – Method of Fixing Bolection Moulding

In fitting bolection moulding, the mites should be shot as it is difficult to obtain a clean joint direct from the saw; the correct length of each piece should be taken, and the moulding cut to the marks; there will be no difficulty in making them fit accurately. The rebates are usually made slightly edge-shaped, as shown in Fig. 63, which forces the mitres up tightly as the moulding are driven in. In nailing each piece in, the nails should be driven as at D (Fig. 63); this will draw the points A and B down tightly, and at the same time allow the panels to shrink, without the danger of splitting them. This method of fixing does not, however, find favor in some parts, the favorite method being to screw the moulding from the inside of the panels, as at E. This certainly holds them firmly to the panels; but unless the latter are very dry, they are apt to split, owing to the outside edges being held by the screws. Taken on the whole, the writer prefers the former method of fixing and it must be understood that both methods should on no account be used together.

Fig. 64 – Bolection Moulded Three-Panel Door (with Section)

In Fig. 64 we have a door that will be a familiar object to some readers, but a total stranger to others: it is a bolection-moulded three-panel door, the third panel being formed by leaving out the bottom munition, and throwing the space below the middle rail into one panel. This, however, is relieved by planting on a raised panel of 3/4 in. wood, bevelled off from the centre to all four sides to a thickness of 3/8 and screwed to the panel proper from the inside. A vertical section of such a door is also shown, and an enlarged section of the bottom part appears in Fig. 65. In some cases a narrow raised panel in fixed to the upper panels in the same way as the lower, but this is not commonly done.

Fig. 65 – Enlarged Detail of Fig. 64

The above makes a very substantial good-looking door when finished, far better than that shown in Fig. 60; but to ensure lasting properties the bottom panels should be very dry, and the grain should cross in the two—that is, the panel proper should run longways, and the raised panel upright, or vice-versa.

— Meghan Bates

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is currently considering requiring “active injury mitigation” (AIM) technology on all table saws that, writes the Power Tool Institute (PTI) in a press release, would more than double the costs of these products. PTI is concerned that the price increase would make a table saw out of reach for many consumers, and contribute to job losses if makers are as a result able […]

The post Proposed Safety Rules for Table Saws – Your Comments Requested appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Flemish? Jacobean? Nope, Chad Stanton. To many, that name might mean making simple (but handsome) I Can Do That!  projects from home-center lumber and tools as showcased in his video series – it’s a great way to get started in the craft…but it’s often a gateway to specialty woodworking tools and lumberyard stock. Turns out that if we give him more than 30 minutes to build and a full set of woodworking […]

The post Chad Stanton, Not Just a Pretty Face appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

Upcoming in Issue Three…  Book Review by Vic Tesolin: “A Field Guide to Identifying Woods in American Antiques & Collectibles” by R. Bruce Hoadley

I’m a voracious reader of both fiction and non-fiction and as you can imagine, most of my non-fiction reading is about woodworking. Currently you’ll find me in the Japanese hand plane rabbit hole and I’m not sure if I can find my way back out.

Joshua asked me if I could write a review of R. Bruce Hoadley’s latest book A Field Guide to Identifying Woods in American Antiques and Collectibles when he and I were at the Fine Woodworking Live event this year. Writing this review was an absolute pleasure for me because I have read almost everything Hoadley has printed. Although, to be fair, I wasn’t sure that I was going to pick this one up…but I’m glad I did.

Many woodworkers don’t understand how wood works. This is an odd thing because, for me, understanding the medium I work with helps me to understand how to work with it. Things like grain direction, porosity and hardness help my come up with a plan of attack for my tools. Take hand planing as an example. White pine practically glistens when you use a low cutting angle, however, try that in hard maple and see what happens. The more you know about wood, the better woodworker you will become.

This book is aimed at the antique market including conservators, collectors and traders, so what did I think of it as a maker? You’ll have to read the full review to see exactly what I thought.

- Vic Tesolin, The Minimalist Woodworker

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s announcement of the next article upcoming in M&T Issue Three...

In this episode of 360 with 360WoodWorking, Mike Mascelli is back to talk more on upholstery. Along with the longevity of good-quality furniture and upholstery work, Mike talks about the best woods to use for frames that are to be upholstered – it’s all about lumber that allows and holds tacks and staples. But you’re not giving up any structural integrity.

Join 360 Woodworking every Thursday for a lively discussion on everything from tools to techniques to wood selection (and more).

Continue reading The Best Woods for Upholstery – 360w360 E.241 at 360 WoodWorking.

I use a variety of hand planes, bench planes actually, in the day to day of making, writing and filming because on the one hand I want to use what people can get hold of and afford at a reasonable price and I tend feel a little nauseous when snobbism displaces proven technologies that worked …

Read the full post Which Bench Plane? on Paul Sellers' Blog.

When I lived in Maine, I had a wide array of projects and furniture that I wanted to build for our house. When it became clear, however, that we were going to move down here to Covington, Ky., I put the designs and wood aside, not wanting to build a bunch of furniture only to pack it into a van and move it – lumber is easy to move, furniture […]

The post Low Stakes Coffee Table appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

I don’t have much background information on this video, but it appears to be a German film showing how a chipbreaker works while planing a piece of wood in a manner similar to the Kawai-Kato chipbreaker video. Many of the factors demonstrated are still the same: the need to have the chipbreaker close to the edge of the blade, the effect of the angle of the leading edge of the chipbreaker, and what happens if the chipbreaker is set too close. You can also see the effect of the mouth, and my favorite bit, what happens when the chipbreaker isn’t set well on the blade.

I shaped the iron, heat treated, sharpened it to a razor finish and did it within two hours. Considering how long it took me the first time, experience and speed has finally kicked in.

I’m very pleased with the outcome, she’s planing and ejecting shavings like a dream.   The mouth opening is 1/32″ which I’ve returned back to my original idea and not intentionally but just by accident. Still it allowed thick enough shavings to go through without clogging. All that’s left to do now is to put a couple of coats of finish and use that as the mother plane for the hollow.

I found a neat little trick to shaping the iron, initially I shaped the iron on a grinder keeping it at 90° but the bevel I did with a file, just like our ancestors did and with all their plane irons to re establish their bevel .  If I used the grinder to establish a 25° bevel and refine the shape I would’ve taken too much from one side or the other.  With a file I took small amounts resulting in a more controlled shaping process.  The grinder hogs off a lot of material throwing you off everytime until you get it right, but that is time consuming.  The file seems like a slower process but it actually took me 20 -30 mins probably less to do it, that’s a saving of 2 hours work.

I could of given up considering how long I’ve been at it but I didn’t.  Hard work, persistence, obsession is the key to success, nothing comes easy.

You can now purchase our latest video “Roubo Workbench: By Hand & Power” for $35 through our online store. The 4:19-long video can be streamed or downloaded and played on nearly any device – we offer the video without any DRM or copy protection.

The video is an in-depth look at how to build a massive French workbench using giant slabs of wood, but without enormous machinery. Will Myers and I walk you through all the construction steps and show a variety of ways to perform every operation, from a pure hand-tool method to one that uses the latest hand-held power tools.

Along the way, Will and I debate the fine points of construction – we don’t always agree – and discuss the pros and cons of everything from wide benchtops to wet timbers to tail vises.

Oh, and I might add that the video is beautiful. Shot using a three-camera setup at F+W Media and directed by our own John Hoffman, this presentation is the best we could do without hiring Orson Wells.

In addition to the 4:19-long video, we also include a three-page pdf containing a construction drawing of the bench, a cutting list and a list of the suppliers mentioned in the video. You’ll also receive a sheet of timecodes that will allow you to skip easily to individual chapters.

This video is the start of a series of instructional videos from Lost Art Press and directed by John. Next up: Peter Galbert on turning.

— Christopher Schwarz

For several years, I’ve been storing my photos on Photobucket.com. I never paid for it so I was willing to deal with the endless pop up ads every time I wanted to upload some of my photos for my blog. All was well until a few days ago when I noticed that the photos in my blog postings were being blocked. Apparently, Photobucket changed their user agreement and they will no longer support third-party hosting of any of the photos in their site. The only way to get the photos back is to pay a monthly subscription fee. Fat chance of that.

I was using Flickr several years before I switched to Photobucket because I ran out of free space. So, the very early blog posts should be fine for now until Flickr does the same thing. I liked Photobucket because even though I had 300 pictures stored on their site, I was only using 3% of free space on my account. Now I’m in a pickle. I assume I could download all my Photobucket photos onto a hard drive and import them back into blog posts, but that is a lot of work.

I noticed a few months ago that WordPress wouldn’t allow me to cut and paste directly from Photobucket onto my blog page. I had to start loading the image onto WordPress first. Now I know why, which is why my most recent posts are fine. The last working post is from four months ago when I smashed my finger. Every post after that until three years ago is blocked.

Thank God I don’t do this for a living! What a nightmare this must be for professional bloggers who blog two or three times a day. I read on Reddit about people who are in dire straits because of this.

For now, I’m going to start using Imgur.com for storing my photos. Maybe I’ll even buy an external hard drive and store my photos on that so this never happens again.

I’ve been busy with 360Woodworking. With my head down giving it what for, I didn’t see that Ridgid came out with a trim router powered by a battery until one of our members – thanks, Eric – brought it to my attention. My reaction was, “You Betcha.” I enjoy using the corded Ridgid trim router and to not have to pull electric cords around the shop sounded good, so I set about getting my hands on the new R86044B.

Continue reading Ridgid’s Brushless, Cordless Trim Router at 360 WoodWorking.

...where did all the sellers go?